Getting rid of my mixing desk: thoughts?

suthnear · Post by **suthnear** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 2:03 am

Hi all,

I am scaling down my studio - I have sold off a fair bit of hardware already - and was wondering whether it was possible for me to get rid of my mixing desk - a yamaha 01v - and just use Scope as a mixer, I essentially just use the yamaha as a set of inputs to record my hardware into cubase anyway. I currently have a pulsar 2 and a luna 2 and I guess I would just need a decent ADA converter of some sort. Has anyone here done this successfully? If so, what converter(s) did you use? Or is it a process fraught with hidden perils? What should I be careful of?

While I don't use the 01v's onboard effects, dynamics and eqs much, they are still pretty useful for sketching ideas because of their lack of latency (once I have recorded the part in, though, I generally replace them). Would I be able to do this using Scope?

Finally, are there any benefits to syncing Scope to a good quality outboard word clock?

Thanks in advance,

suth.

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 3:38 am

Don't worry, you will have no problems. You are doing the right thing. Make sure you use wordclock though because otherwise you will have jitters.

Post by **garyb** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 4:26 am

losing the desk makes sense to me.
wordclock is a good idea, you can live without it if you must..

it is good to have a physical knob or fader in reach connected to your speakers, though you can live without that as well.

suthnear · Post by **suthnear** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 5:54 am

Any recommendations on wordclock? Converter? I'm not at all wealthy, if that helps

Excellent point about the monitor volume - that's not something I'd thought of...

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:35 am

the Creamware A16 ultra is a good choice as an external converter - I'm extrapolating a bit as I 'only' own it's predecessor, which is excellent imho. Wayne's tracks in the music forum should give some impression what this 'oldie' can do...

It's a good bang for the buck and if you find out that your needs are beyond that quality, you could still add a channelstrip or dedicated high end converter box plus studio clock.

cheers, tom

Frontline Studio · Post by **Frontline Studio** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:56 am

Hi,

I've used the A16 (old model) for about 30 minutes and handed it back to the dealer. I switched to the Alesis AI-3 and I'm very satisfied with it. Silent and flawless (so far - touch wood).

Another thing I'd like to share with you is that working with the Pulsar/SFP mixer on screen can be tedious, although it's a very user friendly device. I prefer sliders and knobs.

Shayne White · Post by **Shayne White** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 12:48 pm

I have the Alesis AI3 as well -- it's great! I compared the sound of its output to Scope's, and I didn't hear any difference. Works flawlessly and smooth. I do all my mixing on either Scope or Sonar.

Post by **garyb** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 3:37 pm

for wordclock, any of the offerings from rosendahl, lucid or apogee will do. wordclock generators are expensive by default.

the a16ultra is EXCELLENT. i have 2 frontier tangos and they are acceptable as are the alesis, and even behringer ada8000......

[ This Message was edited by: garyb on 2005-01-19 15:37 ]

ronnie · Post by **ronnie** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:25 pm

I use the O1V as a break-out front end with ADAT outs into SCOPE. I also use it as a DAW for the Scope mixer (motorized faders, pan, etc.) It's a pretty good AD/DA converter with wordclock and a decent controller. The preamps aren't bad nor are the effects. I picked it up used pretty cheap. It's big but it's nice to have around. I have it racked just to my left for easy patching and fader moves......

bosone · Post by **bosone** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:08 am

look at tharmony central. at namm was just presented an ultra cheap (160$ or so) analog-adat converter with 8 channels (only input, not output)

suthnear · Post by **suthnear** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:48 am

Cool, thanks peeps.

suthnear · Post by **suthnear** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 3:53 am

p.s. is there much benefit to be gained using a wordclock generator with creamware cards generally? Or is it one of those things that if you have golden ears then with the right material and a waning moon, you can sort of discern, if you squint in just the right way, a slightly greater sense of clarity, cohesion and, my favourite, "openness"? Ok, I'm being facetitious, but is this one of those 5% improvements?

[ This Message was edited by: suthnear on 2005-01-20 03:58 ]

voidar · Post by **voidar** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:03 am

On 2005-01-20 03:53, suthnear wrote:
p.s. is there much benefit to be gained using a wordclock generator with creamware cards generally? Or is it one of those things that if you have golden ears then with the right material and a waning moon, you can sort of discern, if you squint in just the right way, a slightly greater sense of clarity, cohesion and, my favourite, "openness"? Ok, I'm being facetitious, but is this one of those 5% improvements?

[ This Message was edited by: suthnear on 2005-01-20 03:58 ]

Word-clock is needed when syncing multiple ADAT devices. Normally you sync by a master/slave-relationship.

Post by **garyb** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 12:33 pm

you can certainly live without it. the difference is quite noticable, but you won't know it's missing if it's not there. the sync through adat sounds very good......

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:33 pm

The A16 is loud as hell.

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 7:12 pm

the current model of the A16 is called 'ultra' and has no fan at all.
Even the old thing runs problemfree with the fan removed if you take some precautions.
If mounted downside up in the top space of a rack the heat from the voltage regulators can dissipate as intended...

cheers, Tom

Liquid Len · Post by **Liquid Len** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:28 am

On 2005-01-20 12:33, garyb wrote:
you can certainly live without it. the difference is quite noticable, but you won't know it's missing if it's not there. the sync through adat sounds very good......

What exactly is different when syncing with a wordclock instead of through ADAT? I'm wondering this - I am currently syncing through ADAT using a digital mixer that also has a wordclock out. Would I be better off using the wordclock out - and how would I connect it to the Creamware card? Is there hardware that interfaces to it to do this?

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:37 am

It's better with wordclock. I bought a wordcock daughterboard from Creamware. It doesn't use a slot but it covers a slot's access to the back of the computer making that slot unusable Doh! That's a stupid design in my opinion. Of course if you had to you could mount it somwhere inside your computer, if you drill a hole for it, but that would make it difficult to get to if you needed to unplug or plug in the cables.

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:41 am

By the way, I think you can use the Creamware firewire a/d d/a converter for the Luna and not have to worry about using wordclock or having jitters. Someone correct me if I am wrong.